In this issue: Faculty News | Research & Awards | Faculty Highlights | Trainee & Alumni News | Featured Publications
Meet Princess Imoukhuede
UW Bioengineering’s new department chair shares what drew her to the role at UW, her research and what’s exciting about the future.
Faculty News
Welcome new faculty Elizabeth Nance and Ayokunle Olanrewaju
UW BioE welcomes two new core faculty members, with expertise in nanotechnology-based approaches to assess and treat brain disease, and in microfluidics and molecular assays to treat infectious and chronic diseases.
On the passing of James Bassingthwaighte
An influential pioneer in biomedical engineering, Professor Emeritus James B. Bassingthwaighte helped shape the discipline at the University of Washington and internationally.
Research & Awards
Yazdan awarded AHA funding for innovative stroke treatment
With a promising approach to drive brain repair and recovery following a stroke, Azadeh Yazdan has earned the American Heart Association (AHA) Career Development Award.
Boyle lab awarded $2.9M to create new techniques to assess stroke risk
Patrick Boyle’s Cardiac Systems Simulation Lab will lead work using computer modeling and medical imaging to reveal complex links between heart tissue changes, cardiac rhythm disorders and blood clotting that can ultimately lead to stroke.
Fast, cheap test can detect COVID-19 virus’ genome without need for PCR
Developed by Barry Lutz’s lab, the new low-cost, rapid COVID test combines the speed of over-the-counter antigen tests with the accuracy of PCR lab tests.
UW develops first successful auto-adjusting prosthetic socket
Joan Sanders’ team has created the first adaptive socket that automatically changes size as the user’s limb changes size, giving people with limb amputation a new level of freedom: “I can focus on my life.”
Kelly Stevens receives $1.3M Allen Distinguished Investigator Award to detail how liver develops
Stevens’ team will create new technologies to explore the complex factors involved in how livers form, with the ultimate goal of growing human organs from scratch.
Prof. Paul Kinahan and Asst. Professor Kelly Stevens named AIMBE Fellows
The honor represents the top two percent of bioengineers in the nation, and it is “tremendously rare” for those early in their career, such as Stevens.
Faculty Highlights
Ruikang Wang named editor of Biomedical Optics Express
Wang took the helm of the principal journal serving the biomedical optics community earlier this year.
Albert Folch reveals world of tiny fluidics in new book, “Hidden in Plain Sight”
In a Q&A, Folch talks about his book that explores the microfluidic tech behind inkjet printers, 3D printers, COVID-19 tests and more.
Trainee & Alumni News
Alexander Yan and Isiac Orr receive NSF Graduate Fellowships
Ph.D. student Alexander develops point-of-care diagnostics in Paul Yager’s lab. Isiac, Class of ’22, will pursue a Ph.D., with a continued focus on protein design and computational modeling.
Three BioE students named to 2022 Husky 100
Molly Mollica, Joey Liang and Suchitra Gopal are connecting what they learn in and out of the classroom to improve access and equity in healthcare.
Ruby Lunde creates UW Q-Munity for LGBTQ+ students
As an undergraduate, Ruby Lunde, Class of ’22, founded a vibrant support network for LGBTQ+ UW students, and she co-founded a startup.
PhD student Ciana López builds diversity support network
In 2019, Ciana López co-founded UW’s Biomedical Diversity Community. Today the growing group supports all UW students who share an interest in biomedical science as well as diversity, equity and inclusion.
Featured Publications
Nests of dividing neuroblasts sustain interneuron production for the developing human brain
Mercedes Paredes et al.
Colin Studholme and Univ. of California, San Francisco / CIBERNED / UCLA / Hospital Universitari i Politecnic La Fe
Science
MBNL1 drives dynamic transitions between fibroblasts and myofibroblasts in cardiac wound healing
Darrian Bugg et al.
Cole DeForest and Jennifer Davis labs and UW Depts. of Laboratory Medicine & Pathology; Molecular & Cellular Biology
Cardiology
Cell Stem Cell
Characterizing stochastic cell-cycle dynamics in exponential growth
Dean Huang et al.
Paul Wiggins and UW Depts. of Physics; Microbiology / Vanderbilt University
Physical Review E.
Absolute Quantification of Plasma Membrane Receptors Via Quantitative Flow Cytometry
Yingye Fang et al.
Princess Imoukhuede lab and Washington University in St. Louis
Methods in Molecular Biology
Magnetic fields induce exclusion zones in water
Valery Shalatonin and Gerald Pollack
PLoS One
Arming Immune Cell Therapeutics with Polymeric Prodrugs.
Ciana López et al
Patrick Stayton lab and UW Dept. of Neurological Surgery / Seattle Children’s Research Institute / CSIRO Manufacturing / Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center
Advanced Healthcare Materials
Millimeter-scale focal length tuning with MEMS-integrated meta-optics employing high-throughput fabrication
Zheyi Han at al.
Karl Böhringer lab and UW Dept. of Electrical and Computer Engineering / UW Institute for Nano-Engineered Systems
Scientific Reports
The impact of a rapid home test on telehealth decision-making for influenza: a clinical vignette study
Xinyan Cai et al.
Barry Lutz and UW Dept. of Family Medicine / University of Georgia /
BMC Primary Care
A versatile toolbox for studying cortical physiology in primates
Karam Khateeb et al.
Azadeh Yazdan lab and Ruikang Wang and University of California, San Francisco
Cell Reports Methods
Flexing Their Muscles: Maturation of Stem Cell-Derived Cardiomyocytes on Elastomeric Substrates to Enhance Cardiac Repair
Elaheh Karbassi and Charles Murry
Circulation
Cyclic socket enlargement and reduction during walking to minimize limb fluid volume loss in transtibial prosthesis users
Daniel Ballesteros et al.
Joan Sanders lab and UW Depts. of Mechanical Engineering; Rehabilitation Medicine
Medical Engineering & Physics
Aptamer Sandwich Lateral Flow Assay (AptaFlow) for Antibody-Free SARS-CoV-2 Detection
Lucy Yang et al.
Barry Lutz and Suzie Pun labs and UW Depts. of Chemistry; Laboratory Medicine & Pathology
Analytical Chemistry